Thursday, May 27, 2010

Blog Resurection

Ummm....yeah. After reading Ivy's latest blog about being MIA, I came to terms with the fact that I have yet to blog since being stateside. I know, I know: I am a blogger failure. I would use the excuse that the blog becomes superfluous when I'm not half a world away, but since I'm still playing phone tag with some of my favorite people I decided to just put it all out there. Or I guess more specifically here. So this is the world according to Shivonne as of now.

Back in my Hometown
I've decided to spend the summer in Amarillo living with the family and working at, yes-you guessed it, Malcolms. Every time I go back to my old high school job I swear it's the last time, but here I am again: mid twenties, living with my parents, and waiting tables. Isn't that the profile of every blind date loser you see on the movies? Well at least I'm not into the whole role playing sci-fi scene-that's your sign that you really have hit bottom. Seriously though (prepare for the explanatory self rationalizing bit) I think this is a good thing. I get the next few months to relax, earn some much needed cash, regroup, and most importantly spend as much quality time as possible with my kick-ass family. At the moment the whole clan is here sans Monica so when I'm not at work I'm watching a little of The Office with Noah, running errands with Daniel, having girls' night with Mum and Reese, and learning about my Daddy's new passion for sustainable living. Amarillo definitely has it's pros-my church and family, cool summer nights, cheap living-but I'm not planning on an extended stay which brings me to my next update....

Austin Bound
I've spent the last two+ years since graduation running away from the real world in the best way possible-by traveling it. But now [insert monumental drum roll] I've decided it's time for a change. No longer am I to be Shivonne the Texas Nomad. No. My next goal is much more vague and elusive because, after all, I love a challenge. So here it is: to grow up. No, seriously. I've decided it's time to settle down, pursue a career I love, stop hopping from place to place, job to job, and really make a life for myself. Heavy right? Well it feels like it to me. I hardly know where to begin! Here's what I know: 1. Austin has been my favorite ever place to live regardless of country and 2. I still don't know 'what I want to be when I grow up', but I know what I love: fashion. So it's time to make something happen. Come September I'm packing up and moving south. I'm in the midst of convincing my baby sister to take the highly coveted role of Shivonne's roommate (I mean, who WOULDN'T want to live with me?), and my older sister is pretty positive she can use her connections at Nordstrom's to get me a job selling shoes. I figure whatever future I might be inclined to in fashion, retail experience is a must. I know it's not much, but it's a start. I'm not sure what my future may hold, but I'm committing to the next year living here in the states working towards something I just might love. And that's good enough for now.

The Boy
After the all important family meet (his not mine) in London last month, Chris and I seem to still be going strong. Unfortunately 'going strong' doesn't really cut it when applying for a work visa to another country so we're doing that thing every couple dreads, that dirty phrase you hope never to be faced with: long distance. We had a couple of other options (New Zealand was tempting) but we decided we both need to focus on our individual futures before we can really move forward with ours as a couple. The plan is to talk everyday (skype may be the best creation of all time) and see each other at least three times over the next year. First visit is tentatively scheduled for a birthday reunion in September (mine not his-ditto for the country). It's not going to be easy, but I feel this is the right decision as opposed to pushing back everything to spend another year together in New Zealand only to find ourselves in the same predicament after that tour. Don't get me wrong-I'm still all about the travel. I just think that now I'll travel for vacation instead of living to travel.

Well I guess that's the abridged version of my life at the moment. I'm looking forward to seeing how everything shapes up in the coming months-one thing's for sure: this is going to be an interesting summer.
"The World is a book, and those who do not travel
read only a page." -St. Augustine